This invention relates to a machine for making and dispensing semiliquid and/or semisolid food products such as, for example, soft ice cream or Italian-style ice cream (“gelato”) and the like.
As is known, and usually, a machine for making and dispensing ice creams comprises a substantially parallelepiped shaped frame which is elongate along its vertical axis. At the top of it, the frame mounts an operating unit for making and dispensing ice cream.
In the particular case of a soft ice cream machine, the operating unit comprises a tank for containing a base product to be processed and connected through a pump to a mixing and cooling unit, the latter having an ice cream dispensing tap which may be located on the front of the machine frame.
The machine is equipped with a refrigerating unit which comprises a compressor, an evaporator and a condenser associated with the cooling and mixing unit.
In practice, to make the ice cream, the operator fills the containment tank with the base product which is then fed to the mixing and cooling unit through the pump.
Inside the mixing and cooling unit, a helical stirrer mixes the product and at the same time causes it to advance towards the front end of the mixing and cooling unit. At this point, the operator acts on the dispensing tap lever to dispense an ice cream serving.
The base product processed in these machines for professional use is a milk-based mix which is highly perishable. For that reason, the machines must be cleaned and sanitized to prevent the proliferation of bacteria. In particular, great care is taken in the cleaning and sanitizing of the parts of the machine which come into contact with the base product.
Thus, in order to maintain perfectly hygienic conditions, the operating unit for making and dispensing the ice cream is subject to frequent cleaning.
Since cleaning operations may be performed by an operator, the position of the unit for making and dispensing the ice cream is anything but optimal because in prior art machines, the operating unit is at the top of the frame.
The position of the unit for making and dispensing the ice cream is not only inefficient for machine cleaning operations but also for filling the containment tank with the base product. Indeed, the containment tank is made accessible to the operator through a lid which is usually placed at the top of the machine frame.